2RHPZ
09-01-2005, 09:07 AM
Hitler sought sanctuary in Japan?
By Ryann Connell
Aware that his Third Reich was on the verge of collapse just 12 years into the 1,000-year reign he had promised, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler tried to flee the rampaging Russians battering his Berlin bunker and sought sanctuary in Japan, according to Shukan Shincho
As the Soviets relentlessly pounded the German dictator and his cronies holed up in the subterranean fortress in the German capital, moves were apparently afoot to whisk away top Nazis on long-range Condor airplanes to Japan, journalist Eiichiro Tokumoto writes in the prestigious weekly.
Tokumoto cites a top secret letter dated April 24, 1945, that Toshikazu Kase, then Japan's Ambassador to Switzerland, wrote to Shigemitsu Togo, Japan's Foreign Minister at the time.
Kase, a career diplomat whose CV would later include stints as Japan's first ambassador to the United Nations, was then involved with top secret peace negotiations with Allen Dulles, an operative with the U.S.' Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of today's Central Intelligence Agency.
Kase's letter to Togo shows the diplomat was worried that an already struggling Japan was about to be lumbered with a bevy of nasty Nazis.
"It has recently been rumored here that in the event of Germany's defeat the German leaders will flee to Japan," Shukan Shincho quotes Kase's letter to Togo as saying, before going on to add that several Germans who equipped long-range Condor airplanes said they believed preparations were being made for an escape. Kase said the Germans believed "that in the closing stages of the war, Hitler or the party chiefs will attempt to escape to Japan by this means whether Japan likes it or not."
The letter went on to express fears of having the Nazis roll up in Japan, even though Japan was then still an ally.
Kase wrote that there was considerable condemnation of the Nazis' racial policy as the the Third Reich neared collapse. He said some people "are troubled on Japan's account by rumors of this kind, holding that Japan should do her utmost to avoid creating the impression that she follows the same policy as the Nazis. The Japanese Government has of course been long aware of this and I merely mention the atmosphere which prevails in some quarters here as a matter of record," Shukan Shincho quotes his letter as saying.
The weekly notes that it is not aware of whether Kase had ever received concrete information about Hitler fleeing to Japan as the war in Europe neared its end. However, considering Kase was based in neutral Switzerland and engaged in secret negotiations with Dulles of the OSS, says the prospect cannot be ruled out.
Some reports say that at around the same time Kase was penning his letter, Hitler had demanded help to escape to Japan.
On Oct. 9, 1945, just after the war ended, the Pacific Stars and Stripes ran a story by Reuters correspondent Jack Smith claiming that the Imperial Japanese Navy had a secret plan to spirit Der Fuhrer out of Germany and into Japan.
Quoting a former Imperial Navy officer, Smith said that a top secret meeting had been held in Tokyo on March 3, 1945, during which the final decision was made to send a submarine to Germany to bring Hitler to Japan.
Hitler had apparently promised Japan a new weapon that would allow it to win the Pacific War if Japan agreed to provide him sanctuary. By that time, Hitler no longer trusted his fellow countrymen and had requested his Japanese allies send a submarine to pick him up, the weekly says.
Packed with 90 days of the supplies, the sub left Japan early on March 5, 1945. Given the codename Kyodo, the submarine also contained luxurious quarters for Der Fuhrer and his wife, Eva Braun.
But, two weeks later, just after refueling in the Indian Ocean, the submarine sank. When the submarine hadn't arrived to rescue him, Hitler contacted Japan on April 14, asking about its whereabouts and alerting authorities here of its loss, the weekly says. Whether the Allies sunk the sub remains unknown.
Having learned about the failure of his plan to escape from under the sea, the timing at least would give credence to rumors of Hitler's proposed flight to Japan that Kase talked about in his letter.
Few have doubts that Hitler was trying to get away from the Soviets, though he would eventually end up dying in his bunker by shooting himself in the head.
"I've heard from several different sources that Hitler was trying to escape, but this is the first time I've heard he was trying to flee to Japan," a former OSS agent tells Shukan Shincho. "Most people thought he'd head for his villa on the border of Austria and Germany. Mind you, by that time, he was already under incredible mental strain."
Mainichi (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20050804p2g00m0dm009000c.html)
By Ryann Connell
Aware that his Third Reich was on the verge of collapse just 12 years into the 1,000-year reign he had promised, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler tried to flee the rampaging Russians battering his Berlin bunker and sought sanctuary in Japan, according to Shukan Shincho
As the Soviets relentlessly pounded the German dictator and his cronies holed up in the subterranean fortress in the German capital, moves were apparently afoot to whisk away top Nazis on long-range Condor airplanes to Japan, journalist Eiichiro Tokumoto writes in the prestigious weekly.
Tokumoto cites a top secret letter dated April 24, 1945, that Toshikazu Kase, then Japan's Ambassador to Switzerland, wrote to Shigemitsu Togo, Japan's Foreign Minister at the time.
Kase, a career diplomat whose CV would later include stints as Japan's first ambassador to the United Nations, was then involved with top secret peace negotiations with Allen Dulles, an operative with the U.S.' Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of today's Central Intelligence Agency.
Kase's letter to Togo shows the diplomat was worried that an already struggling Japan was about to be lumbered with a bevy of nasty Nazis.
"It has recently been rumored here that in the event of Germany's defeat the German leaders will flee to Japan," Shukan Shincho quotes Kase's letter to Togo as saying, before going on to add that several Germans who equipped long-range Condor airplanes said they believed preparations were being made for an escape. Kase said the Germans believed "that in the closing stages of the war, Hitler or the party chiefs will attempt to escape to Japan by this means whether Japan likes it or not."
The letter went on to express fears of having the Nazis roll up in Japan, even though Japan was then still an ally.
Kase wrote that there was considerable condemnation of the Nazis' racial policy as the the Third Reich neared collapse. He said some people "are troubled on Japan's account by rumors of this kind, holding that Japan should do her utmost to avoid creating the impression that she follows the same policy as the Nazis. The Japanese Government has of course been long aware of this and I merely mention the atmosphere which prevails in some quarters here as a matter of record," Shukan Shincho quotes his letter as saying.
The weekly notes that it is not aware of whether Kase had ever received concrete information about Hitler fleeing to Japan as the war in Europe neared its end. However, considering Kase was based in neutral Switzerland and engaged in secret negotiations with Dulles of the OSS, says the prospect cannot be ruled out.
Some reports say that at around the same time Kase was penning his letter, Hitler had demanded help to escape to Japan.
On Oct. 9, 1945, just after the war ended, the Pacific Stars and Stripes ran a story by Reuters correspondent Jack Smith claiming that the Imperial Japanese Navy had a secret plan to spirit Der Fuhrer out of Germany and into Japan.
Quoting a former Imperial Navy officer, Smith said that a top secret meeting had been held in Tokyo on March 3, 1945, during which the final decision was made to send a submarine to Germany to bring Hitler to Japan.
Hitler had apparently promised Japan a new weapon that would allow it to win the Pacific War if Japan agreed to provide him sanctuary. By that time, Hitler no longer trusted his fellow countrymen and had requested his Japanese allies send a submarine to pick him up, the weekly says.
Packed with 90 days of the supplies, the sub left Japan early on March 5, 1945. Given the codename Kyodo, the submarine also contained luxurious quarters for Der Fuhrer and his wife, Eva Braun.
But, two weeks later, just after refueling in the Indian Ocean, the submarine sank. When the submarine hadn't arrived to rescue him, Hitler contacted Japan on April 14, asking about its whereabouts and alerting authorities here of its loss, the weekly says. Whether the Allies sunk the sub remains unknown.
Having learned about the failure of his plan to escape from under the sea, the timing at least would give credence to rumors of Hitler's proposed flight to Japan that Kase talked about in his letter.
Few have doubts that Hitler was trying to get away from the Soviets, though he would eventually end up dying in his bunker by shooting himself in the head.
"I've heard from several different sources that Hitler was trying to escape, but this is the first time I've heard he was trying to flee to Japan," a former OSS agent tells Shukan Shincho. "Most people thought he'd head for his villa on the border of Austria and Germany. Mind you, by that time, he was already under incredible mental strain."
Mainichi (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20050804p2g00m0dm009000c.html)